
VACATion wm 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Shelf. ./^.Z/K^ 
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



VACATION VERSES 



ALICE m: dowd 



^^ 







BUFFALO 

CHARLES WELLS MOULTON 



3 vlV 






COPYRlLiHr, 

1890, 

Alice M. Dovvd. 



PRINTED BV 

C. W. MOULTON, 

BUFFALO, N. Y. 



TO 

MY SISTER 

I GIVE THIS HANDFUL OF 

WILD-FLOWERS 

GATHERED DURING SUMMER RAMBLES 

AMONG THE HILLS. 



CONTTENTPS. 

PAGE 

Au Revoir 9 

Midsummer Rest lo 

Leaf and Branch 12 

Rose-Bay 13 

Dalibarda — Found in the Adirondacks 14 

Bluebells 15 

Our Journey 16 

Heart' s-Ease 17 

Fallen Leaves 18 

Immortelle 19 

In a Stormy Night — Translated from the German . . 20 

Golden-Rod 21 

Pearls — From the German of Ruckert , 22 

The Grave in the Busento — From the German of 

August von Platen 23 

Children's Worship — From the German of Karl 

Gerok 25 

Wrong Reckoning — From the German of Joh. Nefo- 

MUK VoGEL 27 

Eternity — From the German of Robert Waldmuller, 28 

A Sonnet — From the German of Ruckert 29 

Sea and Sky — From the German of Schultz 30 

On the Death of a Child — From the German of 

Uhland 30 



6 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

The Heart — From the German of Hermann Neumann 31 
An Aphorism — From the German of Julie Burow . . . 31 
At Night — From the German of Ernst Scherenberg 32 

Love-Song — From the German of Wernher 32 

The Prize — From the German of Johann Fischer . . 33 
Consolation — From the German of Karl Batz .... 33 

Crying for the Moon 34 

Cloud-Thoughts 3c 

Time • 37 

Class Poem — W. S. N. S 38 

Triennial Poem — W. S. N. S 39 

The Sea-Shore 40 

Sunset 41 

Upon the Heights 42 

Life 43 

Since She is Dead — From the German of Moritz 

Hartmann 44 

Parting — From the German of Spitta 46 

Whither — From the German of Julius Sturm 48 

Exception to a Natural Law — From the German of 

Frederick von Logau 49 



VACATION VERSES, 



AU REVOIR. 

TTTE greet the glad vacation 

^ ^ That comes with flying feet; 
Its pleasant recreation 

Will make our year complete. 

Yet mingling with our gladness 
Are thoughts akin to pain; 

Farewells are said with sadness, 
And loss is blent with gain. 

But memory will cherish 

The days that come no more, 

They will not wholly perish 
When they are days of yore. 

If, when they have departed 
With all their hopes and fears, 

They leave us stronger hearted 
To meet the coming years. 



VACATION VERSES. 



MIDSUMMER REST. 

^ I ^HE calm of lakes and woods is ours, 
^ The beauty of late-coming flowers, 
The peaceful sky 
Whose light glints down to us between 
Pine trees of solemn, tender green, 
Upreaching high. 

The splendor of the sunset glow 
Lies trembling on the lake below 

Where drifts our boat. 
And music-measures from the shore 
Come to us faintly, as we o'er 

The waters float. 

In our horizon, far away, 

The lightning flashes seem at play, 

In grandeur bright ; 
They add new glory to our world. 
We reck not of the storm unfurled 

Beyond our sight. 



MIDSUMMER REST. 

For us to-day is rest and peace, 
The blessing of complete release 

From toil and care ; 
But life moves on ; our world is round 
We float toward this horizon bound, 

Though unaware. 

A store of strength for future days 
Comes to us in all unseen ways, 

Above our ken ; 
In future days we will be strong, 
And distant echoes of a song 

Shall reach us then. 



VACATION VERSES. 



LEAF AND BRANCH. 

* I ^HE leaves grew fair 

•^ In the Summer air, 

But they faded, one by one. 

Where leaves grew fair 

The bough is bare. 
Now Summer's work is done. 

My days were fair, — 

I wrought with care, — 
I toiled beneath the sun. 

The days are fled, — 

The past is dead, — 
What lives when work is done ? 

Where leaves grew sere 

New buds appear. 
When leaves are lying low ; 

And reaching high 

To air and sky 
Next year the branches grow. 



ROSE- BAY. 

The past is rife 

With latent life, 
Not lost, the long ago. 

New buds unfold 

From out the old, 
And some are sure to grow. 



ROSE-BAY. 

ACROSS the field the fire had sped 
- And turned the green earth black ; 
Its breath brought death, and where it spread. 
Destruction marked its track. 

But beauty with the Summer came, 
The "fire-weed" found its place, 

And crimson flowers, like ghosts of flame, 
Re-clothed the field with grace. 

They spring from soil where fire and strife 

And pain prepare the way ; 
They find in loss a claim to life, 

They crown the hill with bay. 



14 VACATION VERSES. 



DALIBARDA. 

FOUND IN THE ADIRONDACKS. 

IVTO dear pet name thy blossoms know, 

^ ^ Like those which greet the passing feet, 

And by the wayside love to grow ; 

Yet are thy flowers as sweet 
As those which garden walls enclose, 
And thou art sister to the rose. 

Alone within the mountain glen, 

In solitude thy life must be, 
Remote from busy haunts of men ; 

Their praise is not for thee. 
Like stars thy pure white blossoms rise 
With dewy faces toward the skies. 

Thy heart-shaped leaves fulfil their trust. 
Take earthly dole and heavenly dower. 

And from the dew-drop and the dust 
They mould a perfect flower. 

Dear plant, that dwellest here apart. 

Thy leaves are fashioned like a heart. 



BLUEBELLS. 15 



BLUEBELLS. 

CHILL November winds are sighing, 
And the fallen leaves are lying 
On the ground ; 
Restless wailing of the breeze, 
Wanderino- amono- the trees. 
Is the only sound. 

Golden-rod has lost the glory 
Of its sunshine, and grown hoary 

In the frost ; 
And through all the dreary day 
Mountain-tops lie cold and gray, 

By the shadows crossed. 

Bluebells in the rock's protection 
Still give back in fair retieclion 

Heaven's blue, 
Which, between the clouds of gray, 
In the dark November day, 

Ever shineth through. 



1 6 VACATION VERSES. 

Ah ! the bluebells vainly linger ; 
Soon the frost-king's deadly finger 

Proves more strong. 
Earth's sad winds are wailing still, 
And the shadows on the hill 

Grow more dark and long. 



OUR JOURNEY. 

A PATH that leads amid Spring blossoms sweet, 
^^^*^ Where buttercups and daisies line the way, 
And, bathed in morning dew, we idly stray, 
Till onward lured, with half reluctant feet. 
By promises of blessings more complete; 

The path grows wider with advancing day, 
Rugged and steep, but yet we can not stay, 
We have no choice, no turning, no retreat. 

A Voice has said to us : "This is the way. 
Walk ye therein." We would not disobey, 

We know not where the journey's end may lie, 
What rest and welcome wait us by and by, 
But dimly we discern, and far away. 

The mountain summits mingling with the sky. 



p 



HEARTS-EASE. 17 



HEART'S-EASE. 

URPLE and gold — 
Royal the hues that thy petals unfold 
Why should these colors be 
Emblems of royalty, 

Purple and gold ? 

Regal is orold ! 

Sign of earth's riches, resources untold ; 
Many a door may be 
Opened with golden key. 
Regal is gold. 

Purple as well 

Has its own story of blessing to tell ; 

" Blessed are they that mourn," 
Holy, the crowns of thorn ; 
Purple as well, 

Though it means grief. 

Shows us a royalty passing belief. 

Was not earth's greatest King 
" Perfe6f through suffering," 
Vi6for through srief ? 



VACATION VERSES. 

Heart's-ease must hold 

Blended the colors of purple and gold, 
Colors of joy and pain, — 
Thus royal hearts must gain 
Heart's-ease to hold. 



FALLEN LEAVES. 

"TTTHEN leaves are sere beneath our tread, 
^ ^ When Summer blooms and birds have fled, 
And sad winds sigh in branches high 
A requiem for the days that die, 
Look up, dear heart, see overhead 
The arching branches widely spread, 
The work of leaves and days long dead. 
And o'er them bends a peaceful sky, 
When leaves are sere. 

Though hopes like withered leaves are dead, 
Let not too bitter tears be shed, 

For life has nobler grown thereby. 

And wider skies above us lie. 
Look up, dear heart, be comforted. 
When leaves are sere. 



IMMORTELLE. 19 



IMMORTELLE. 

TT lined our path that Summer day, 
-^ As throug-h the fields we went ; 
"It shall 00 with us, far away," 
We said, in glad content. 

" Not like the other Summer flowers, 

That wither in our hands ; 
This blossom shall be always ours, 

It surely understands 

"The secret that it keeps so well 
When brighter bloom departs ; 

The blossoms of the immortelle 
Shall reassure our hearts." 

That Summer day is gone for aye ; 

Its passing pleasure told : 
No more among the fields we stray ; 

The year is growing old. 



VACATION VERSES. 

But blossoms brought from Arcady 
We love and cherish well ; 

Fair flowers of hope and memory, 
Blossoms of immortelle. 



T 



IN A STORMY NIGHT. 

Translated from the German. 

HE sky is gray, no light of star 



Shines from the heavenly host afar, 
But hurrying clouds assemble. 
Tempestuous breaks the storm anear. 
The billows roll and toss in fear. 
The bells are sounding deep and drear. 
And human hearts must tremble. 

Lord, God, protected by Thy hand 
Be every ship upon the strand 

By tempest tossed and driven ; 
And every throbbing heart, we pray, 
That like a ship on stormy way 
Bears burdens through life's troubled day, 

To it Thy aid be given. . 



GOLDEN-ROD. 



GOLDEN-ROD. 

COMMONPLACE, 
With an unaffected grace, 
By the dusty road unfolding, 
Sunshine into blossoms moulding, 
Every careless, nodding plume 
Bountiful with golden bloom: — 
Common faces thus seem fair 
For the sunshine that they wear. 

Bravely bright. 
Catching and refle61ing light. 
In earth's barren places living, 
Getting little for its giving. 
It unconsciously bestows 
Heaven's light, whereby it grows, 
Adding to the weary way 
Its fresh grace for every day. 

In the frost 
Will its blossoming be lost 



o 



VACATION VERSES. 

When the plumes, with silver hoary, 
Slowly fade from golden glory ? 
Not if in our lives the grace 
Of the beautiful finds place. 
Sunny lives, its blossoms say. 
Have brave hearts for every day. 



PEARLS. 

From the German of R'uckert. 

LOOK above, if e'er the world thy thought confuses 
In the eternal sky no star its pathway loses. 



If thou wouldst first thank God for all the joys that 

bless thee. 
No time were left to mourn the troubles that distress 

thee. 

Learn this, O heart ! 'tis easy, upright and true to be. 
But to appear so maketh a heavy task for thee. 

Before each stands a picture, his life's ideal, sweet ; 
As long as he unlike it is, his peace is incomplete. 



THE GRAVE IN THE BUSENTO. 23 



THE GRAVE IN THE BUSENTO. 

From the German of August von Platen. 

TN the night Busento waters hear the sound of mourn- 
^ ful singing, 

And the river voices answer, echoes from their whirlpools 
flinging. 

Shadow-like the Goths assemble, who for Alaric are 

weeping. 
Alaric, their brave young leader, in the arms of Death is 

sleeping. 

Far his home whom they so sadly now within the grave 

are laying, — 
And upon his shoulders lightly golden ringlets still are 

playing. 

On the banks of the Busento where the reeds and rushes 

quiver, 
There they made another channel, turned aside the 

ancient river. 



24 VACATION VERSES. 

In its bed they laid their hero, with his steed and armor 

laid him, 
Where the rushes keep the secret, bending o'er the 

grave they made him. 

Back again the stream is guided, to its former channel 

flowing, 
So that ever o'er his slumber music of its waves is going. 

And his warriors sang the chorus: "Sleep in honor 

never broken ; 
Roman greed shall not be able of thy grave to find a 

token." 

Thus they sang, and through the army of the Goths his 
praises sounded. 

Roll them on, Busento waters, onward unto seas un- 
bounded ! 



CHILDREN'S WORSHIP. 



CHILDREN'S WORSHIP. 

From. the German of Karl Gcrok. 

q-VHE sweet Sabbath bells are all ringmg, 
i And calling the people to prayer ; 
At home sit three little ones singing, 

While sunshine gleams bright in their hair. 

Too restless and small and unruly 

Are they to sit still in a pew ; 
Yet will they observe the day duly, 

In the way that the older folks do. 

A hymn-book each one of them carries. 
And holds upside down, with great care ; 

And the singing of these happy fames 
Is as clear and as free as the air. 

What you're singing not one of you dreameth, 

Each sings in a different tone, 
Yet sweetly some melody seemeth 

To rise toward the heavenly throne. 



25 



26 VACATION VERSES. 

There ever your angels' pure faces 
Behold Him, the Father above, 

But sweet through the heavenly places. 
And dear to the heart of His love 

Are the songs of the little ones sounding. 

Sing ever ! In rivalry free, 
Bird-songs, through the garden resounding. 

Are rising from every tree. 

Sing ever ! We sing, older growing. 
Presuming that we understand. 

Yet often, we also, unknowing 

Hold the book wrong side up in our hand. 

Sing ever ! From earth's grandest altar. 
The music most noble and clear, — 

What is it ? Child-accents that falter, — 
A breath in the Infinite ear. 



iv/^OjVG reckoning. 27 



WRONG RECKONING. 

From the Genua 11 of J oh. NepoDiuk V'ogel. 

A SHREWD accountant, contented to stay 
Alone with his figures by night and by day, 
Allowed not his pen to be out of his sight ; 
Where others met failure he brought results right. 

But over his reckoning the swift years sped ; 
Already their fingers had silvered his head ; 
Already Death asked him : " Friend, art thou prepared ? 
'Tis time for our little account to be squared." 

The old man feebly crept from his place ; 

He would gaze once more on the earth's fair face. 

The roses were blossoming everywhere, — 

He saw only figures clouding the air. 

The fields were rejoicing with song-birds' trill,— 
He heard but the scratching of his quill. 
The clouds were gleaming in golden light, — 
The blackness of ink-drops blurred his sight. 



28 VACATION VERSES. 

Remorsefully now a glance he cast 
Upon the mistakes in account with his past ; 
The last page was reached in his day-book fair, 
And showed him a life mis-reckoned there. 



ETERNITY. 

From the German of Robert Waldui'uller. 

IN heavenly peace serene they circle yonder ; 
No sound from them may greet our mortal ears 
Forever on their peaceful way they wander ; 
Unheard, the mystic music of the spheres. 

The winds speed swift from earth's remotest places ; 

World-messengers, they hasten to and fro ; 
Yet bring they, from the realm of star-lit spaces. 

No tidings of the lands to which they go. 

No sound to listening ear of mortal reacheth ; 

The soul alone o'er space and time soars free ; 
To it the far-off spheric measure teacheth 

One word of its grand song — Eternity ! 



A S0AW/t7: 29 



T 



A SONNET. 

From the Ceniiaii of Ri'ickcrt. 

HE sky, a missive held in hand divine, 
Has ever kept its color, bright and pure, 



And to the end of time will it endure, — 
This scroll of blue, where golden letters shine. 
Within this missiv^e is contained a line 

Of God's own Scripture which might well assure 
Our hearts if we could read it, but obscure 
Eor very brightness is the grand design. 

But when the sun's round seal is torn away, 

At night, we see, traced up and down the sky, 
This writing, hidden from the eye of day: 
" Our God is Love, and Love can never lie ! " 
This word alone ! Yet human wisdom may 
New depths of meaning evermore descry. 
1) 



30 



VACATION VERSES. 



SEA AND SKY. 

Fro)ii the Geriiian of Schiiltz. 

THE sky looks down upon the sea ; 
Yonder he woukl so gladly be ; 
He dreams that in the watery deeps 
His stars are buried, and he weeps. 

But skyward, wistful, looks the sea ; 
Yonder she w^ould so gladly be ; 
She knows not that within her breast 
The shining stars have found their rest. 



ON THE DEATH OF A CHILD. 

From tltc German of I 'hlaiid. 

SO lightly didst thou come and go, 
A fleeting guest in earthl)' land ; 
Whither? and whence? we only know, 
Out of God's hand, into God's hand. 



THE HE ART.- AN APHORISM. 



THE HEART. 

From the German of Hermami Neumann. 

TWO chambers has the heart, 
For Pleasure 
And Sorrow set apart. 

If Happiness awakes 

Brief respite 
In shimber Sorrow takes. 

O Happiness, beware ! 

Speak Ughtly, 
Lest Sorrow waken there ! 



31 



AN APHORISM. 

From the German of Julie Buroiv. 

'HO has not suffered knows but half of life ; 

Who ne'er has failed ne'er entered on the strife. 
He never has rejoiced who never grieved ; 
Who never doubted, never has believed. 



w 



32 VACATION ] 'ERSES. 



AT NIGHT. 

From the Geniian of Enist Sc/iciriiber,<i'. 

'^ I ^IS night ; the earth is dreamin< 

^ Above it, in the sky, 
In solemn, silent splendor. 

Star-pictures lie. 



'Tis nig-ht ; before my vision 
In lonely grandeur glow 

The quiet, starry pictures 
Of long ago. 



T 



LOVE-SONG. 

From the German of Mernhcr. 

HOU art mine, I am thine ; 
Know it by a certain sign. 



Fast locked thou art 

Within my heart. 
And because I've lost the key 

There must thou forever be. 



THE PRIZE. — CO NSO LA TION. 



THE PRIZE. 

From the Gen nan of Johaiin Inscher. 

^ I ^HERE is no mountain peak so hig-h. 
^ No deep ravine so low, 
But up so high a bird may fly, 
So deep a sunbeam go. 

Wert thou a pearl within the sea, 

Or Alpine gold above, 
So deep, so high, I'd go to thee, 

To win thy heart, my love. 



CONSOLATION. 

From the German of Karl Batz. 

NO joy so deep, so pure, below, 
A tear may not beneath it flow. 
No bitter grief so heavy lies. 
But hope mounts o'er it to the skies. 



34 VACATION VERSES. 



CRYING FOR THE MOON. 

T WANT the moon, it shines so bright, 
^ With such a clear and silver light ; 
But other people don't agree, 
They say the moon's too big for me. 
Our house would be a wondrous sight, 
Lit up so grandly through the night. 

We'd need no lamp-light then, you see, 
And so I'm not contented quite, 
I want the moon. 

I have the moonshine, pure and white ; 
It ought to fill me with delight, — 

How glorious the moon must be ! 

Perhaps 'twould tarnish easily 
Within my grasp, — yet, wrong or right, 
I want the moon. 



CLOUD THOUGHTS. 35 



CLOUD-THOUGHTS. 

EVER drifting on the shifting 
Currents of the restless air, 
Like the thoughts our hearts are lifting, 
Clouds are floating here and there. 

Golden clouds, so deeply burning. 

Shadowing a future fair, 
Emblems of the spirit's yearning, 

Are our castles in the air. 

Dark gray clouds of sin and sorrow 

Often close around us lie ; 
Clouds of doubt for the to-morrow 

Hide from us the deep of sky. 

White clouds soaring highest ever 
With pure peaceful beauty fraught. 

These express our best endeavor, 
And our trustful upward thought. 

Thus below earth-clouds are flitting. 
And the tender blue above 



36 VACATION VERSES. 

Bends unchanging, best befitting 
Token of a heaven of love. 

Sometime, though we wait till even, 
Will the eager asking red, 

Mounting up in the bright heaven, 
Meet the deep blue overhead. 



TIME. 37 



TIME. 

AN empty cup is placed within our hands, 
- Which we at wayside wells and inns may fill 
To quench our thirst. Clear water from the rill 
At first we find, but soon through desert lands 
We wander, where no pleasant shade-tree stands, 
And from the rocks but bitter drops distill. 
We journey onward with undaunted will, 
Still eager that our feverish demands 
May find what they desire. We mix our wine 
With rue and fennel, and with heart' s-ease, too ; 
'Tis bitter-sweet. Our souls are filled with ruth 
But from the western hills a breath divine 

Brings strength and peace, and kindles hope anew, 
Beyond the sunset lies the fount of youth. 



38 VACATION VERSES. 



CLASS POEM. 

W. S. N. S. 

A LITTLE while our paths of Hfe 
Have touched and led us side by side. 
But now we go to sterner strife 

Apart, earth's harvest fields are wide. 

Our dreams have been of high success, 
Of brave achievement, bravely done ; 

May we, unsatisfied with less, 

Press on till dream and deed are one. 

Thus glorify the common task, 
Till all its jarring discords cease, 

And life shall bring the boon we ask. 
The perfect strength that giveth peace. 

At last our lives shall meet again 

And enter on the life unseen ; 
We breathe a brave farewell, till then, 

"And Mizpah," God will watch between. 



TRIENNIAL POEM. 39 



TRIENNIAL POEM. 

W. S. N. S. 

WITH joyful hearts again we greet 
The friends of other days, 
While tender memories and sweet 
Call forth the song we raise. 

Across the distance of the years 
A backward glance we cast ; 

Life's morning bright and brief appears, 
In halo of the past. 

The heat and burden of the day 

Our portion now we see, 
And in our work we live, we pray 

May it established be. 

Our hearts grow restful as the bright 

Full years of life increase ; 
The path behind us lies in light. 

Before us, leads to peace. 



40 VACATION VERSES. 



THE SEA-SHORE. 

^ I ^HE slowly ebbing tide 

^ Creeps backward from the shore, 
While, fathomless and wide, 
The solemn sea before 
Rolls outward evermore. 

The surge-swept sands find peace 

From tossing to and fro ; 
The weaves, in glad release. 

Out from the shallows flow, 

And ever wider grow. 

The sunset splendor bright 

Across the ocean gleams 
And crowns the sea with light ; 

And from its golden beams 

O'er life the glory streams. 

For if each outward sign 

Is shadow of a thought, 
Analogies divine 

Are found wherever sought. 

And beauty is with inner meaning fraught. 



SC/jVSET. 41 



SUNSET. 



CRIMSON, amethyst and gold ; 
Thus the colors are unrolled 
In the glory new and old. 

Crimson first, it means unrest ; 
It is wistfulness expressed ; 
It is longing manifest. 

Then the amethyst appears ; 
Truth shall conquer all our fears ; 
Patience will outlast the years. 

Boats set forth with purple oar 
On a sea without a shore, 
Reaching to the evermore. 

Golden glow o'er mountains grand 
Lingers last ; in light they stand ; 
Peaceful is the sunset land. 



42 



VACATION VERSES. 



UPON THE HEIGHTS. 

UPON the heights, beneath the sky, 
Where only cloud-land shadows lie, 
Where Nature peace serene bestows, 
And life in every breeze that blows, 
There find we rest, my heart and I, 
Forget to question whence and why, 
Forget our grief and misery. 
For gladness comes and sorrow goes. 
Upon the heights. 

Such visions mortal eyes descry 
That souls grow strong to do and die ; 
They find, beyond the realm of woes. 
The hills of God, where dwells repose. 
And struggle ends in victory, — 
Upon the heights. 



LIFE. 43 



LIFE. 

A FIRE-FLY gleam amid the gloom of night ; 
-^-^ A bubble bright, that bursts and disappears ; 

A Summer day amid the countless years ; 
A flower whose beauty fades with fading light ; 
A meteor that flashes on our sight 

And vanishes ; a rainbow made of tears ; 
A brief existence, fraught with hopes and fears. 
Yet catching gleams of radiance heavenly bright ; 
A tale that's told ; a vision incomplete ; — 
And yet there vibrates still a tone sublime 
Within the measure that our pulses beat ; 
A melody that lives when hopes are riven ; 
An echo of the everlasting chime, — 

Life's music, "sad as earth, and sweet as Heaven. 



44 VACATION VERSES. 



SINCE SHE IS DEAD. 

Front the Geinuan of Moritz Hartuiann. 

SINCE she is dead, assurance grows in me 
That life immortal must be given ; 
My sad heart feels that tenderly 

Love bends to comfort me from Heaven, 
Since she is dead. 

Since she is dead I have grown brave and strong 
I know what hearts may bear of sorrow. 

What weariness shall do me wrong ? 
What shall I fear in life's to-morrow. 
Since she is dead ? 

Since she is dead my heart will hold for aye 

A vision of transfigured beauty ; 
A holy angel guards my way 

And guides in paths of dut)-, 
Since she is dead. 

Since she is dead a high and steadfast waL 
Has girt me round with sweet seclusion ; 



SINCE SHE IS DEAD. 45 

In vain is restless Pleasure's call ; 
Joy's vassals venture no intrusion, 
Since she is dead. 

Since she is dead, within my secret heart 
The deepest peace is gently sinking- ; 

The soul, with closed eyes, sits apart, 

Anticipating, more than thinking, 

Since she is dead. 



46 VACATION VERSES. 



PARTING. 

Fro)n the German of Spitfa. 

OF what avail this weeping, 
I'hat vainly breaks my heart ? 
We both are in God's keeping ; 

From Him we do not part. 
This bond forever holds us, 

In spite of time and place ; 
The love of God enfolds us, — 
Unites us by His grace. 

Hands clasp and then we sever ; 

We cross the land and sea, 
And yet remain forever 

In deepest unity. 
We lose familiar faces ; 

We keep within His care 
Whose presence fills all spaces, 

Whose love is everywhere. 

We say, "I here, thou yonder; 
Thou goest and I stay ; " 



PARTING. 47 



And yet, where'er we wander 
He gives the light, the way. 

We speak of ways dividing ; 
We sadly say good-bye ; 

Yet trust His tender guiding 
To whom we all are nigh. 

Then why should it so grieve us 

That paths diverge below ? 
His love will never leave us, 

With Him we all may go, 
Blessed by the same protection, 

Led by the same dear hand, 
In the same sure direction. 

Into one Fatherland. 

Then let no bitter grieving 

The hour of parting fill ; 
In love divine believing, 

We trust our Father's will. 
'Tis love divine that giveth 

The earthly friendship sweet ; 
'Tis by His love it liveth. 

In Him 'tis made complete. 



4S VACATION VERSES. 



WHITHER? 

From the Gcrinaii of Julius Sin nil. 

WHITHER, thou rushing- stream ? thy quest? 
" Away to the vale I flee ; 
Because I am weary I will rest 
Within the quiet sea." 

Whither, thou waving wind ? thy quest ? 

" Far, far away I roam ; 
Because I am weary I will rest 

In rocky, mountain home." 

Whither, thou passing cloud ? thy quest ? 

" I know a barren lea ; 
Because I am weary, there for rest 

Is place appointed me." 

Whither, thou flying bird ? thy quest ? 

" Deep in the forest shade, 
Because I am weary, I will rest 

Where none shall make afraid." 



EXCEPTION TO A NATURAL LAW. 49 

Whither, thou soul of mine ? thy quest ? 

" High over the clouds above, 
Because I am weary, I will rest 

In the everlasting Love." 



EXCEPTION TO A NATURAL LAW. 

From the German of Friedrich von Logan. 

WHO said, by Nature's fixed decree 
No vacuum can ever be, 
Had never seen the empty space 
That in my pocket-book finds place. 

F 



